In a decisive move aimed at cushioning the nation against severe climate shocks and an impending food crisis, the Government of Kenya has announced plans to import 25 million 90kg bags of maize to bridge a widening supply deficit.
Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary, Senator Mutahi Kagwe, confirmed that emergency framework arrangements are already in motion to facilitate the imports.
Assuring the nation that no Kenyan will face starvation, Kagwe emphasized that the state has established robust mitigation measures to guarantee national food security despite the mounting agricultural headwinds.
Kenya’s annual maize consumption stands at approximately 75 million bags. However, depressed yields in primary grain-producing regions driven by prolonged drought conditions and climate-induced disruptions are projected to leave a critical 25-million-bag shortfall.
The strategic importation intervention aims to stabilize domestic market prices and insulate consumers from inflationary spikes at the grocery counter.
“We will import maize. We have already made arrangements for that. We will manage the country. The country is not going to go hungry,” CS Kagwe declared.
Addressing long-term sustainability, CS Kagwe stressed that while grain imports offer immediate relief, the government is simultaneously executing structural interventions to reduce Kenya’s reliance on rain-fed agriculture.
Among the priority projects is the expansion of the flagship Galana Kulalu irrigation scheme, designed to significantly raise national yields and enhance agricultural resilience against cyclical climate shocks.
To further boost local production, the Ministry is partnering with the National Treasury to eliminate tax hurdles and reduce administrative bottlenecks, creating a more competitive and financially viable environment for local farmers and agribusiness enterprises.
The strategic pivot toward long-term transformation was capped by the official launch of stakeholder consultations for the new AgriConnect Compact Programme during the Fifth Joint Consultative Meeting of County Executive Committee Members (CECMs).
The multi-agency program which transitions from the Food Systems Resilience Program (FSRP) and the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project (NAVCDP) is designed to turn traditional agriculture into a commercial, technology-driven power engine capable of generating thousands of jobs for the youth.
Built upon three core pillars boosting farm output, expanding local value addition, and driving commercial agribusiness AgriConnect aims to reframe agriculture from a survival option into a profitable field for investment.
The program heavily prioritizes digital integration, leveraging artificial intelligence and modern farming tools to attract a tech-savvy generation of agri-preneurs.
